Metro Detroit residents endure sixth day without power
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - For many, Monday marked the sixth day without any electricity. Some have been resorting to dangerous ways to stay warm.
"First they said it will be Saturday, then Sunday, then Monday, and I'm thinking this is going to be another day of this," Veryl Jackson, a Lincoln Park resident, said.
Without a generator and hotel rooms being either too expensive or all booked up, Jackson is taking risks in order to keep his family warm.
"We have the burners on in the day. Just before going to bed, we cut them off. It's just a really cold morning waking up, understanding we're not supposed to have them on because of carbon monoxide," Jackson told CBS News Detroit.
Debris from the ice storm that knocked out power almost a week ago is littered all over his neighborhood around Cicotte and Empire.
"Six days without power is incredibly unacceptable, and it's not something that we should be willing to live with," State Senator Darrin Camilleri, who represents the fourth district, said.
Camilleri is one of the Democrats in Lansing who wants DTE in the hot seat to answer for this mess.
"The power restoration is the immediate need that needs to be addressed and focused on once that is finished. I believe that there will be conversations about what a timeline could look like," Camilleri told CBS News Detroit.
State House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash is introducing legislation that would provide automatic credits for customers affected by outages and increase reimbursement amounts for those who lose food and other goods.
"For folks that are living paycheck to paycheck, a crisis like this sets them back for months," Aiyash said.
Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel is asking for similar legislation.
"While this ice storm appears to have been one of the worst we have seen in many years, winter weather is an expected occurrence in Michigan. Residents deserve a grid they can rely on," said Nessel. "Despite asking for record increases time and time again, our utilities have failed to adequately invest in their own infrastructure or prepare for these storm events, choosing instead to leave ratepayers in the dark. Our current service quality standards are not sufficient, and it is incumbent on the utilities to right this wrong."
DTE Energy said Monday afternoon they are proactively prorating customers who have been without power for more than 96 hours.
"Here in Michigan, DTE and Consumers folks pay some of the highest rates in the Midwest. And we experience more outages for longer periods of time than any of our Midwest counterparts. So something has to give," Aiyash said.
In a statement DTE wrote:
As of Monday, DTE field crews have restored power to more than 600,000 of the 630,000 customers impacted by the recent, ice storm. While 95% of customers impacted by the storm have been restored, crews will continue working around the clock to restore the remaining storm-impacted customers, as well as all other customers that have experienced recent outages. We completely understand the frustration of being without electricity, and we will continue to work with state and local leaders on our shared goals of continuing to improve reliability, deliver cleaner energy, while maintaining affordability for our customers.
Anyone needing assistance with temporary shelter or meals can contact United Way at 2-1-1.
